“A lot of people have asked how can you squeeze another game at the end of a long season, but we see this as an honour... But the week is also a reward, because it is not as tense, you enjoy it with the boys and can have a few beers.” - Rassie Erasmus Volume 1, Number 18 06 December 2018 Register to receive your own free weekly newsletter at www.leopardnewsletters.co.za Fantastic Win for the Barbarians After a disappointing tour of the northern hemisphere, Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus honoured his commitment to coach the Barbarians against Argentina last weekend, and came away with the win. The fact that he selected no fewer than 13 current Springboks in his invitational side suggests that he considered the match an opportunity for more Springbok experimentation. The Baabaas scored first after a perfectly-timed inside ball from Schalk Brits paved the way for the first try by Juan Manuel Leguizamon, the Argentina international, scoring against his countrymen inside The Baabaas were first to score in the second half three minutes. But then, in the space of slightly more with Siya Kolisi cantering over but a Julian Montoya than 20 minutes, Argentina scored four tries, all of try and Joaquin Diaz Bonilla conversion restored which were converted. Argentina’s advantage barely five minutes later and then the Baabaas crossed the line again. With the Baabaas trailing 28-7 after spending considerable time in Argentina’s red zone, referee In the 75th minute Lood de Jager powered over for John Lacey awarded the home side a well-deserved the Baabaas fifth try and set Elton Jantjies up to level penalty try to take the score to 28-14, which was also the scores with four minutes left. It was a drop-goal the half-time score. from the Springbok pivot that sealed it for Rassie and his Barbarians. As Ben Coles wrote from Twickenham: “Elton Jantjies’ drop goal with time almost up at Twickenham sealed a thrilling 38-35 victory for the Barbarians.” Perhaps most interesting was Rassie's comment: “A lot of people have asked how can you squeeze another game at the end of a long season, but we see this as an honour... But the week is also a reward, because it is not as tense, you enjoy it with the boys and can have a few beers.” KEY TOPICS IN THIS NEWSLETTER Blitzbokke Disappoint in Dubai Are Sunwolves heading for the Chop? Looking Ahead to Cape Town Taking a Stab at Rassie’s Choices Another Poor PRO14 Weekend The Springbok Class of 2018 Page 1 Blitzbokke Disappoint in Dubai Looking Ahead to Cape Town In our first match against Zimbabwe, the Blitzbokke You’d have to go back a long way in the history of quickly got out to a 26-point lead. But then, with the what is now known as the HSBC Rugby Sevens Cheetahs down to six men after a yellow card, the World Series to find a worse performance by the Bokke were unable to take advantage in that period Blitzbokke (see alongside). Cape Town this weekend and score again. That’s when warning bells rang for provides an opportunity to bounce back hard and the first time. that’s exactly what the fans expect. It didn’t get better against Samoa when we took the The draw pits the Blitzbokke against two of the same lead twice and we gave it up twice: first by falling off opponents as last week. It will give the players some tackles and the second time with a loose pass out wide comfort to know they beat both in Dubai: Zimbabwe that was intercepted. Rusty was the word that came to and Samoa. The third team is New Zealand, eventual mind as more warning bells pealed in Dubai. winners in Dubai. “Last week was a bad start for the campaign‚ but the coach said it could be something good if we learn from it‚” Blitzbok playmaker Rosko Specman told Times Live. “There will probably be less pressure on us this weekend because most of it will be on New Zealand and USA‚ who [played] the final last week. “Cape Town is the one tournament we always want to win and I have no doubt we will bounce back.” That’s all true and probably the only way to deal with the disappointment in Dubai but there’s a twist. The Blitzbokke are expected to wear Christmas trees in Then it all began to fall apart thanks to another trying to rescue their season in the unfriendly city. blissfully incompetent referee, from Australia, unsurprisingly, who dished out two completely unjustified yellow cards to allow Argentina to sneak into the quarter-finals through the back door. It was all downhill from there when the Sevens Springboks were utterly thrashed by an utterly underwhelming England team it what can only be described as the worst performance I have ever seen from them. In the end the Blitzbokke finished in sixth, the worst they’ve placed at the HSBC World Series for three- and-a-half-years when they also finished sixth in London (May 2015). You must go back another year to May 2014 in Glasgow for a worse result: seventh. It’s a good thing that the Cape Town event was sold out before the Dubai tournament started or the organisers would have to give the tickets away now. And the less said about the jersey the players have to wear in the unfriendly city, the better. [More about that in the next story - Ed] Page 2 Page 3 Another Poor PRO14 Weekend With both visiting teams over the past fortnight without international players for the November test window, it was a perfect opportunity for the Cheetahs and the Southern Kings to move up the log. But it wasn’t to be. The Cheetahs managed a single narrow victory while the Kings lost both home games. After beating Benneton (aka Treviso) the previous week, the Cheetahs were on a roll hoping for another but it didn’t work out that way. The home team already had a 15-point deficit by the 30 minute mark, leaving them chasing the game until the final whistle. They came close in the end but were never clinical enough to catch it. Watching the game, however, led me an epiphany of sorts. Both the Cheetahs and the Kings regularly get the rough end of the stick from referees in this competition, and I suspect that I have realised why. Consider the teams in this competition: the two best Italian and Scottish club teams as well as the four top Irish and Welsh clubs. Now think about the pecking order in South Africa and where the Cheetahs and Kings fit into that. Right. The referees expect our two teams to be below Down in PE, and after being completely outplayed the par and they usually don’t disappoint on that score, previous week the Kings were simply not in the game but my theory is that the opposing teams play the ref this past Saturday. Despite a a quick response to the first better than the local teams do. Benneton try, the Italians quickly built a commanding lead and forced the Kings were also chasing the game, It also shows unequivocally that SA Rugby does not again. Two quick tries by the Kings in the last nine take the PRO14 seriously. Otherwise, there would be minutes of the game restored some respectability to the serious measures in place to help both local teams to scoreline but the home team seemed utterly clueless in compete better - for the good of SA Rugby Inc - and the middle 60 minutes and just couldn’t find a way to prevent them haemorrhaging their best players to through the Italian defence. other PRO14 teams (and other European leagues) as well as to the unjustified Super Rugby franchise operating from a beach in Durban. [Careful now, your slip is showing - Ed.] Page 4 Page 5 Are Sunwolves heading for the Chop? Taking a Stab at Rassie’s Choices Just last week we featured a story about the With the November international window now Sunwolves squad announcement and plans to use the behind us, Ultimate Rugby has put itself in the 2019 Super Rugby as a training ground for Japan’s Springbok head coach’s shoes to select a provisional World Cup aspirations. Now, news has emerged that 31-man touring party for next year’s World Cup. SANZAAR is mulling a Super Rugby competition There is perhaps one surprise but it is unlikely that without the Japanese side at all. Madness. these pundits are far off the mark. Does the left hand actually know what the right hand is This is, after all, largely the team that defeated the doing in rugby circles? The principle of self-interest is All Blacks in New Zealand and let the self-same well understood but, surely, it’s in everybody’s interest opposition back into the game at Loftus, thereby to grow the game in a territory with a pollution of 126 snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. million people? The Ultimate Rugby article notes that: “There are a But given that those of today’s rugby administrators number of talented players that don't make the squad who actually played the game, did so before World including the likes of Bismark du Plessis, Jan Rugby introduced its rather stringent Concussion Serfontein, Thomas du Toit, Frans Steyn, JP Management regime. Perhaps they’re still feeling the Pieterson and all three of the du Preez brothers.